DWS Unconstrained Asian Fixed Income

Managed out of Hong Kong by Henry Wong, the DWS Asian Bonds strategy has provided category-leading absolute and risk-adjusted performance within the Asian fixed income asset class. The strategy is designed to be very flexible, with a loose benchmark of the JPM JACI index, and notable sector, country and duration tilts – unconstrained fixed income across investment grade and high yield credit markets. In this session, we run through the rationale for investing in EM Asia and the composition of our strategy, with the discussion being led by our product specialist, Robert Gibbs.

Join us as we discuss the CROCI in the context of intellectual capital. Established in 1996, CROCI or “Cash Return on Capital Invested” is a proprietary economic valuation approach. Its methodology analyses companies in a way that reframes balance sheets, mitigating the effects of heterogeneous accounting standards and allowing comparability using the derived CROCI economic P/E. The presentation will touch on how companies with intangible assets (R&D & Brands) have largely been able to defy a backdrop of lacklustre growth in the global economy while companies without intellectual capital have struggled to generate any growth, and how to capture opportunities in this space.

Managed out of Hong Kong by Henry Wong, the DWS Asian Bonds strategy has provided category-leading absolute and risk-adjusted performance within the Asian fixed income asset class. The strategy is designed to be very flexible, with a loose benchmark of the JPM JACI index, and notable sector, country and duration tilts – unconstrained fixed income across investment grade and high yield credit markets. In this session, we run through the rationale for investing in EM Asia and the composition of our strategy, with the discussion being led by our product specialist, Robert Gibbs.

Francesco Curto, PhD, Head of CROCI; Colin McKenzie, Head of CROCI Intelligence

During the past decade, equity investors have benefitted from two principal trends: the inflation of asset prices via quantitative easing and strong earnings growth from the Technology sector. Both these trends are now showing signs of fatigue. In 2019, investors face a choice between Scylla and Charybdis.

For investors, Charybdis is the central banks’ tightening programmes: excessive tightening risks creating a whirlpool which rapidly deflates asset prices. The alternative is Scylla: this would involve fewer rate hikes, a synchronised global economic slowdown and the hope that the journey does not veer off course. Odysseus chose Scylla—a rational choice that kept the ship safe in return for the sacrifice of a few sailors. Conservatism might dictate a similar choice to policymakers now.

Our bottom-up analysis suggests that a slowdown is well underway, with capex falling and risk premia rising. Equity valuations may still be rich at the market level, but there are few alternatives available to investors and good pockets of value are starting to emerge for astute investors.

Elevated Valuations, recent increases in volatility, interest rates on the rise ? Market sentiment is evolving rapidly and this has prompted a review of several techniques that can be efficiently implemented with ETFs in order to mitigate portfolio risks. From Sectors to Factors, Fixed Income to Commodities, we will analyse the defensive characteristics of these assets with the aim of achieving a high level of diversification and robust performance over market cycles.

How do fixed income ETFs differ from equity ETFs and how are they typically used by investors? How liquid is a fixed income ETF and, how do they perform in periods of market volatility?
Our fixed income investment specialist, Jessica Singleton, will discuss the mechanics of a bond ETF, how the funds are constructed, the portfolio management process and most common uses. Bhaven Patel from our Xtrackers Capital Markets team will talk through how bond ETF liquidity is measured and dispel any myths around how fixed income ETFs weather stressed markets.

With increased focus on responsible investing, DWS with MSCI have launched a new range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) Xtrackers ETFs. The four new ETFs provide exposure to ESG-filtered equity indices tracking global, US, Japanese and European markets. The new ETFs track indices that are part of the MSCI ESG Leaders Low Carbon ex Tobacco Involvement 5% series. The indices use extensive filtering based on MSCI ESG research, which means included companies meet strict ESG and low carbon requirements.

Please join us at DWS and MSCI as we discuss the index methodology and construction of the indices, focusing on the underlying research in this space.

With rising rates in the US, can value still be found in USD bonds? USD yields are significantly higher than EUR and GBP yield – but what are the risks investors are taking? Blanca will discuss the spectrum of USD bond investment opportunities using
Fixed Income ETF examples.

· Identifying the channels of climate risk and the threat to financial stability

· Integrating physical climate risk into investment portfolios

· How investment opportunities of the SDGs are spreading from private to public markets

Michael leads ESG Thematic Research at DWS and joined the company in 1990. His team identifies key trends and controversies as they relate to ESG and his work supports all three divisions of the investment platform, namely Active, Passive and Alternatives. Prior to his current role, Michael was the Global Head of CommoditiesResearch in the Corporate Banking & Securities division of Deutsche Bank. The Commodities Research team was ranked #2 in the 2013 Institutional Investor Survey.

Before this, he was the Deputy Head of FX Research at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. In 2000, the FX Research team was ranked #1 in the Euromoney FX Survey. Michael began his career as a research analyst covering Global Macro & Rates research at Morgan Grenfell. Michael holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bristol and an MSc (Econ) in Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science.

EM equities continue to outperform their developed market peers YTD. Key drivers of this performance are the encouraging economic conditions in China, steady investor flows in EM region and strong corporate earnings growth. Please join us as we discuss why we are positive on Emerging Markets with Sean Taylor, APAC CIO for DWS.

Sean joined DWS in 2013 with 21 years of industry experience.
He started his career in 1994 as a fund manager with Capel Cure Myers. In 1997 he moved to Societe Generale where he spent eight years and became Head of International & Emerging Markets. In 2004, Sean joined GAM as an Investment Director. In this role he was based in London and Dubai.

Sean has been named CIO of the Year in Asia for two years in a row by Asia Asset Management. In addition to being Fund Manager to 5 Star rated funds in Global Emerging Markets, Emerging Europe, Frontier Emerging Markets, GEM and Eastern European strategies, he has also won awards such as Emerging Fund of the Year (2007) and Best Frontier Hedge Fund (2010) by Hedge Fund World.

Francesco Curto, PhD (Global Head of CROCI Investment Strategy & Valuation Group) will talk through the recently published 2018 CROCI Outlook for equity markets, based on bottom-up analysis using CROCI’s proprietary economic valuation approach.
In our 2017 outlook, we compared the world of investment to the journey that Odysseus took to return to Ithaca from Troy. The story ultimately had a happy ending, but the journey was long and perilous, and riddled with danger. Ten years since the great financial crisis, economic growth has picked up across the major economies but equity valuations are stretched. On long-term assumptions, our analysis suggests that equities may be overvalued by as much as 25%. Even so, there are some interesting pockets of value for long-term investors.

The Outlook discusses these valuation opportunities, how to perform in a high valuation environment, the risk of bubbles, and of course regional & sectoral valuation anomalies.

2018 brings with it another year of the new reality in the global economy: modest growth, benign inflation, and low interest rates. But at this late stage in the cycle, with most asset classes being rather expensive, positioning for 2018 is arguably more important than it has been for several years. Deutsche Asset Management invites you to join us for a discussion on our 2018 outlook and investment ideas using ETFs.

What is the difference between the primary and secondary markets? How do they provide liquidity for investors? How does Deutsche Asset Management ensure an efficient and cost-effective experience for investors? Find out how the ETP Capital Markets team manage the different processes and relationships within the ETF trading eco-system. Bhaven Patel, investment specialist in our ETP Capital Markets Team will take you through these questions and provide an insight into the trading of ETFs in a brief 45 minute session.

Bhaven is part of the ETP Capital Markets team within Deutsche Asset Management’s Passive group which he joined in September 2015 and has 12 years of experience in the ETF industry. His ETF journey started at Morgan Stanley in 2005 as a delta one trade assistant, rising to the head of the team by 2009. Bhaven then joined the ETF trading desk at Credit Suisse in London and was responsible for pricing and executing UCITS ETFs for a large global client base. He then transitioned to the Issuer side with Credit Suisse Asset Management within their Capital Markets team with a focus on Authorised Participant relationship management and client execution services. The business was acquired by Blackrock in 2013 which led to Bhaven joining the equivalent team at iShares where his responsibilities included primary and secondary market management.
MSc in Information Security and BSc in Computer Science both from Royal Holloway, University of London

Listed Infrastructure investing is becoming more and more important for investors worldwide. This asset class which allows for instant capital deployment and broad diversification, has delivered some interesting risk-adjusted returns.

Infrastructure asset owners have historically been the key to successful investing in this sector due to their stable and predictable inflation-linked cash flows.

Register now and watch and listen to Head of Liquid Real Assets, Matthias Meyer discuss his area of expertise.

Matthias joined Deutsche Bank in 2005 and is currently responsible for Deutsche AM’s Liquid Real Assets distribution in APAC & EMEA.
He took over his current role in 2014, building the LRA distribution network in those regions from scratch and was honoured with the 40 under 40 - Rising Star of Institutional Asset Management Award– by Financial News for his efforts.

Prior to his current role, Matthias worked in several sales & advisory roles within Deutsche Bank Asset Management & Wealth Management units.
In addition he was a board member of the Deutsche Bank Switzerland Pension Fund as well as head of the Investment Committee.

Matthias holds Master's Degree ("Diplom-Betriebswirt") in Banking & Finance from the University of Applied Sciences, Saarbruecken.

ESG, or responsible investing, has increasingly become a prevalent topic of conversation for investors, especially over the past 3 years. $21 trillion of assets are now invested in ESG or sustainable strategies globally in aggregate. Asset owners are becoming more and more aware of sustainability issues and their perception of responsibility for stewardship.

Michael Lewis is a Managing Director, Head of ESG Thematic Research for Deutsche Asset Management and is based in London. He joined the Company in 1990. Prior to his current role, Michael was Global Head of Commodities Research in the Corporate Banking & Securities division. Before this, he was a G10 FX strategist and Deputy Head of FX Research at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. Michael began his career as a research analyst covering Global Macro & Rates research at Morgan Grenfell

Michael holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bristol and an MSc (Econ) in Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sector exposures are fundamental drivers of risk and return, with high dispersion between sector returns. The diversification demonstrated by MSCI World sectors is pervasive across regions; a remarkable feature, as it could have been significantly reduced by the large number of stock members in each sector.

Flows into sector ETFs have increased significantly over the last year, showing the ever-changing investor mindset as they move from traditional country allocation to factor, sector and regional plays. Healthcare and financials captured the lion’s share in 2016.

Deutsche Asset Management’s db X-trackers ETF platform offers a number of sector exposures across several different regions: global, European, EM and China.

Deutsche Asset Management’s passive business has recently published a paper on Sector Rotation. This webcast will be hosted by Pierre Debru. He is a Director within Deutsche Asset Management, developing Investment Strategies and Model Portfolios within Passive Asset Management. He has 12 years of experience in Quantitative Research, Fund Structuring and Portfolio Construction. Previously, Mr. Debru was structuring and managing Structured Funds on all asset classes (UCITS or otherwise) at Nomura Alternative Investment Management. Prior to moving to Nomura, Mr. Debru was a Quantitative Analyst within BNP Paribas Investment Partners, Lehman Brothers Asset Management and Aviva Investors.

The quest for yield comes at the price of more volatility, more downgrade risks and potentially more liquidity risks. Each of these events can translate into yield destruction that durably affects the performance of a bond portfolio, especially for constrained investors. Looking for quality, however, is expected to render those risks more remote at the price of lower yields, whereby such lower yields may not always materialise into lower performance. In his presentation, Olivier will cover the benefits of fixed income indices:

After completing his Masters in Engineering Science at the Ecole Centrale in Paris and Financial Mathematics at the Technische Universität Berlin, Olivier Souliac worked for Deutsche Bank in London and Frankfurt in the structured funds and index funds division. The particular emphasis in this role was on the development and distribution of systematically managed funds, with a focus on fixed income solutions for institutional clients. Olivier Souliac became an active member of the Deutsche Bank Asset & Wealth Management division at the end of 2012, working in this same area of responsibility. In October 2014, Olivier joined the Strategic Beta team within Passive Asset Management and focuses on fixed income strategies.